The Science: How It Works
Rapid Strategic Cognition
Its
Purpose Overview
Proof It
Works Overview
How It
Works Overview
Positional
Strategy
Expansion
Strategy
Situational Strategy
Strategic
Innovation Overview
How It Compares
Overview
Overview
As a decision-making tool, front-line strategy is a powerful view of how
the world works. As a science, it
has its own principles, formulas, and specialized vocabulary. It is
divided
into separate branches to simplify its study: positional strategy, expansion
strategy, and situational strategy. These three areas, and the constant
demand for innovation, work
together to address different categories of strategic problems.
Positional strategy is a
comprehensive, systematic method of analyzing complex, competitive
environments. Its purpose is to identify the relative strengths and
weaknesses of competitive positions and to map the relationships among
various competing positions. Positional strategy is the most basic form of
front-line strategy and the conceptual foundation for the other two
branches. Once your people understand their relative position and where they
want to go, they can begin to see the opportunities that will take your
company forward.
Expansion strategy focuses on the
methods used to build up competitive positions by advancing them into new
areas. It is the skill of identifying and utilizing opportunities in the
environment. These openings are small, incremental advances in the right
direction that others cannot oppose By advancing continuously and
consistently without opposition, your people win little victories every day
and eventually build up powerful, winning positions. Expansion strategy is built around a four-step process called
the Progress Cycle. The methods of expansion strategy are both exploratory
and scalable. They are essentially experiments used to tackle small
obstacles and exploration in long campaigns. Expansion strategy provides the
skills required to experiment safely and productively.
Situational strategy is the
study of the appropriate response to specific situations. This is the most
detailed and advanced section of the science. It is used for (1) identifying
the nature of opportunities, (2) moving into new areas, (3) responding
appropriately to threats, and (4) understanding the best method for
neutralizing an opponent. It requires understanding the range of conditions
that shape a competitive situation and the appropriate responses those
different conditions require.
The methods of strategic innovation
are not a separate branch of the science. They are used by all its other
schools. Like the idea of positioning, human creativity is a foundation
concept in front-line strategy. The fact that people are always innovating
is what makes front-line strategy so necessary. In some respects, this
study of strategic innovation is the most advanced stage in mastering
classical strategy. |